Calhoun returns to UConn practice

Updated 12:30 am, Saturday, March 3, 2012

Connecticut head coach Jim Calhoun, center, watches players during his first practice since having successful lower back surgery in Storrs, Conn., Friday, March 2, 2012. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill)

Connecticut head coach Jim Calhoun, center, watches players during his first practice since having successful lower back surgery in Storrs, Conn., Friday, March 2, 2012. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill)

Photo: Jessica Hill, Associated Press

Calhoun returns to UConn practice

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STORRS -- "I don't know about you, but I'm going to keep fighting."

Those were the last few words uttered by Jim Calhoun -- rather mellow given the circumstance and his temperament -- following a 58-44 defeat at Georgetown on Feb. 1. Although his Huskies had just been knocked on their collective rear, Calhoun stood upright, never hinting at the spinal stenosis that would eventually require surgery and keep him away from UConn basketball for exactly one month.

That hiatus finally ended Friday.

Just four days after lower back surgery, Calhoun stood upright again, sporadically leaning against the scorer's table as he directed UConn through its final practice of the regular season. His whistle hung from his neck. His voice -- a bit strained -- shouted instructions at his slumping Huskies.

"Even when people told me he his back was hurting, I didn't really know," UConn center Alex Oriakhi said. "You couldn't even tell he had surgery. That just says a lot about his toughness -- that's a tough guy right there."

No one can ever question Calhoun's toughness. He's a three-time cancer survivor; a man who has fought through every obstacle life has thrown at him.

But Calhoun's team?

That's a different story.

When UConn announced Calhoun's medical leave on Feb. 3, the Huskies were in the middle of a four-game skid. And things haven't got much better since. UConn (17-12, 7-10 Big East) has dropped nine of its last 12 games -- and the three wins were against last-place DePaul, struggling Villanova and Seton Hall, which was without leading scorer Herb Pope.

Most recently, the Huskies squandered a 14-point lead at Providence as they were pounded on the offensive glass (17 second-chance rebounds for the Friars) in a 72-70 defeat.

UConn associate coach George Blaney (3-5 in Calhoun's absence) has been talking about "getting wins" since he assumed head coaching duties. Now, there's only one more chance to do so before the postseason: UConn, essentially in desperation-mode, hosts equally underachieving Pittsburgh (16-14, 5-12) today at noon at Gampel Pavilion.

Calhoun didn't guarantee he'd coach the game, but all signs point toward his return.

"I'll see how I feel (Saturday) when I get up to see if I'm going to come to the game," Calhoun said. "It's not a mystery. I want to feel that I can give the kids my best at 12 o'clock tomorrow (today)."

Freshman Andre Drummond, who gave Calhoun a hug (probably a light one) upon his return, said there was "no doubt" in his mind that the 69-year-old Hall of Famer would coach the regular-season finale.

In the month he missed, Calhoun said he felt "caged." He helplessly watched from home as Louisville embarrassed the Huskies -- the Cardinals blew open a 70-40 lead -- on Feb. 6. He wasn't present for all the hoopla that came with UConn's Feb. 25 showdown with second-ranked Syracuse, a game in which the Huskies fell two points short despite their best half of the season.

"I just couldn't stay home any longer," Calhoun said. "I didn't know what I was going to do."

The gym, as he conceded, provides a certain comfort, an element that had been missing for the entire month of February. Though surgery removed the stenosis, Calhoun admitted that doctors advised him against returning so quickly. Doctors also told him to "not jump around," which prompted Calhoun to quip "they may have to eliminate three officials (Saturday)."

Of course, Calhoun's team could provide more than enough frustration. The same issues that plagued the Huskies early in the year -- 3-point defense, boxing out, playing full possessions -- haven't been corrected. As a result, UConn, ranked fourth in the country to start the year, is sliding toward unfamiliar territory -- the dreaded "bubble." In the past decade, only two teams ranked in the Associated Press preseason top five have ever missed the tournament: LSU in 2006-07 and Missouri in 2003-04.

UConn, the defending national champion, is getting dangerously close to joining them.

In all likelihood, Calhoun, a three-time national champion, will be present as the Huskies fight for their NCAA tournament life in the coming days.

"It's nice collecting trophies and those kind of things, but it's important to be there when things aren't going as well," Calhoun said. "And right now things haven't gone as well as we'd like."